Posts related to Britain and British culture.
Killing Eve is a British spy thriller series. It aired on BBC America from 8 April 2018 to 10 April 2022. Phoebe Waller-Bridge developed the first season, based on the novel series Villanelle by Luke Jennings. Sandra Oh plays Eve Polastri, a bored MI5 desk officer who becomes obsessed with tracking a skilled assassin.
Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022), directed by Simon Curtis, follows the Crawley family as they face two journeys at once. A film crew arrives to shoot a picture at Downton while Violet reveals she has inherited a villa in the south of France from a man no one has heard of.
Better Off Dead, co-authored with Andrew Child, has Reacher searching for a missing twin in a desert town, clashing with a bomber plotting deadly attacks.
Clarkson's Farm is a British documentary series. It came out on Amazon Prime Video on 11 June 2021. The show follows Jeremy Clarkson, known from car programmes, as he takes over running his 1000-acre farm in the Cotswolds after the old manager retires.
Co-authored with Andrew Child, The Sentinel sees Reacher save an IT manager from kidnappers in Tennessee, uncovering a ransomware plot threatening local elections.
Blue Moon pits Reacher against rival Albanian and Ukrainian gangs in a city turf war after he helps an elderly man robbed for loan shark debts.
Downton Abbey (2019), directed by Michael Engler, continues the story of the Crawley family and their servants as they prepare for a royal visit from King George V and Queen Mary. Hugh Bonneville plays Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham.
The Little Drummer Girl is a British-American limited series. It aired on BBC One and AMC from 28 October 2018. Park Chan-wook directed it. The show adapts John le Carré's 1983 novel. Florence Pugh plays Charlie, a young English actress recruited by Israeli intelligence to infiltrate a Palestinian bombing network in the late 1970s.
Past Tense follows Reacher to his father’s New Hampshire hometown, uncovering family secrets, while two Canadians face a deadly trap in a rural motel.
In Frederick Forsyth’s thrilling modern espionage novel, The Fox, a British teen with Asperger’s, Luke Jennings, turns out to be a cyber-genius who can hack into the world’s most secure systems, like the Pentagon, NSA, and CIA.
Johnny English Strikes Again (2018), directed by David Kerr, follows Johnny English as he comes out of retirement to stop a cyber attack that has exposed every active spy in Britain. Rowan Atkinson plays Johnny, now a geography teacher who longs for the old days.
In The Midnight Line, Reacher finds a West Point ring in a pawn shop and tracks its owner, a female veteran caught in Wyoming’s opioid trade.
Paddington 2 (2017), directed by Paul King, follows Paddington as he is wrongly sent to prison after a thief steals the birthday present he planned to give his aunt. Ben Whishaw voices Paddington, now a beloved member of the Brown family and the neighbourhood.
Sherlock is a British crime drama series. It aired on BBC One from 25 July 2010 to 15 January 2017. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss created it. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes, a consulting detective in modern day London who solves cases the police cannot.
Night School revisits 1996, with Reacher in Hamburg teaming with CIA and NSA agents to stop a jihadist selling a nuclear weapon.
The Night Manager is a British thriller series. It aired on BBC One from 21 February to 27 March 2016. David Farr wrote it, based on the novel by John le Carré. Tom Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, a former soldier turned hotel night manager who is recruited to infiltrate the inner circle of an arms dealer.
Downton Abbey is a British drama series. It aired on ITV from 26 September 2010 to 25 December 2015. Julian Fellowes wrote it. Hugh Bonneville plays Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, who runs a grand estate in the Yorkshire countryside during the early twentieth century.
Make Me drops Reacher in the isolated town of Mother’s Rest, investigating a journalist’s disappearance into a dark web conspiracy. With her partner, he uncovers a sinister underground service.
Top Gear is a British motoring programme. It aired on BBC Two from 20 October 2002 to 28 June 2015 in its best known form. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May presented it together for 22 series.
The Grey (2011), directed by Joe Carnahan, follows men who crash in Alaska. Liam Neeson plays Ottway, a hunter who guards oil workers. He knows wolves and death.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), directed by Peter Jackson, brings the story of Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield to its end. Martin Freeman plays Bilbo, who watches his friend lose himself to greed as armies gather at the gates of the Lonely Mountain.
In Personal, Reacher hunts a sniper who targeted the French president, linked to a past enemy from his Army days.
Paddington (2014), directed by Paul King, follows a young bear from Peru who arrives in London looking for a home. Ben Whishaw voices Paddington, a polite and hopeful bear who wears a red hat, loves marmalade, and believes the best of everyone he meets.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows concludes the series as Harry, Ron, and Hermione hunt Horcruxes to defeat Voldemort, now controlling the wizarding world.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts uncovers Voldemort’s past through Dumbledore’s lessons, while a mysterious book aids his magic.